In a notice released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today, GT Bank has launched an invitation to holders of its $400 million 6% notes due 2018, to tender all or any of the notes in exchange for cash. Commencement and settlement dates for the offer are September 25, 2017 and October 5, 2017. Notes purchased during the offer will be cancelled.
The bank has appointed Lucid Issuer Services Limited as tender agent and Exotix Partners LLP, JP Morgan Securities Plc and Morgan Stanley and Co International Plc as dealer managers to the offer.
Why GT Bank launched the tender offer
According to the notice, the bank launched the offer in order to efficiently manage its debt. The bank may have decided to purchase the notes in order to take advantage of the current dollar liquidity. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has relaxed restrictions in its FX policy which were imposed last year due to increasing oil prices and a recovery of lost crude oil production volumes. A crash in crude oil prices and production volumes, lead to an a sharp devaluation of the Naira against the dollar and a foreign exchange crisis.
Here is a copy of the notice.
GT Bank shares closed at N39.50 in today’s NSE trading session down 0.25%. The bank recently declared an interim dividend of 30 kobo per share for the half year ended June 2017. Gross earnings increased from N209 billion in 2016 to N214 billion in 2017. Profit before tax increased from N85 billion in 2017 to N101 billion in 2017. Profit after tax increased from N71 billion in 2016 to N83.6 billion in 2017.
